View source for Assuwa

{{Short description|Ancient Anatolian kingdom}}
{{Merge from|Pasuhalta (region)|discuss=Talk:Assuwa#Proposed merge of Pasuhalta (region) into Assuwa|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            ={{lang|hit|𒀸𒋗𒉿}}<br />{{small|{{transliteration|hit|aš-šu-wa}}}}
| conventional_long_name = Assuwa
| common_name            = Assuwa
| era                    = [[Bronze Age]]
| government_type        = [[Confederation]]
| area_km2               =
| year_start             = 
| year_end               = 
| life_span              = unknown-1430 BC
| event_start            =  
| date_start             =
| event_end              = 
| date_end               =
| event1                 =
| date_event1            =
| event2                 =
| date_event2            =
| event3                 =
| date_event3            =
| p1                     = 
| flag_p1                =
| p2                     =
| flag_p2                =
| p3                     =
| flag_p3                =
| p4                     =
| flag_p4                =
| p5                     =
| flag_p5                =
| p6                     =
| flag_p6                =
| p7                     =
| flag_p7                =
| p8                     = 
| flag_p8                =
| s1                     = 
| flag_s1                = 
| border_s1              = no
| s2                     =
| flag_s2                =
| image_flag             =
| flag_size              =
| flag_type              =
| image_coat             =
| symbol                 =
| symbol_type            =
| image_map              = Ancient Near East 1400BC.svg
| image_map_caption      = 
| capital                = 
| common_languages       = [[Luwian language|Luwian]]<ref>Teffeeller, Annette. (2013). ''Singers of Lapza: Reconstructing Identities on Bronze Age Lesbos''. Luwian Identities: Culture, Language and Religion Between Anatolia and the Aegean. Netherlands: Brill. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Luwian_Identities/a_B8VOPZlYIC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref>
| religion               = 
| currency               = 
| title_leader           = Members
| year_leader1           = ''legible''
| leader1                =  Kispuwa, Unaliya, Dura, Halluwa, Huwallusiya, Karakisa, Dunda, Adadura, Parista, Warsiya, Kuruppiya, Alatra, Pasuhalta, Mount Pahurina,  Wilusiya, Taruisa
| year_leader2           = ''obliterated''
| leader2                = [—]lugga,  [—],  [—],<br>  [—]waa,  [—]luissa, [—]
| footnotes              = }}

{{Short description|15th century BC confederation in western Anatolia}}
'''Assuwa''' ({{langx|hit|𒀸𒋗𒉿|translit=aš-šu-wa|link=yes}}) was a region of [[Bronze Age]] [[Anatolia]] located west of the [[Kızılırmak River]]. It was mentioned in Aegean, Anatolian and Egyptian inscriptions but is best known from Hittite records describing a league of 22 towns or states that rebelled against Hittite authority. It disappears from history during the thirteenth century BC.

== Etymology ==

The name appears in different scripts over the course of a few hundred years. The individual etymologies are unknown,<ref>Woudhuizen translated ''a-šu'' as a Luwic adverb meaning "good." See Bomhard, A. R. (1984). ''Toward proto-Nostratic : a new approach to the comparison of proto-Indo-European and proto-Afroasiatic'', p. 112. Netherlands: North-Holland. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Toward_Proto_Nostratic/j9WN4fHIPlwC?hl=en&gbpv=1 Google Books]</ref>
but scholarship has come to accept that the {{langx|grc|Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾱ|Asia}} is [[cognate]] to the {{langx|gmy|𐀀𐀯𐀹𐀊|translit=a-si-wi-ja|link=yes}}).<ref name="Cline1996">Cline, Eric H. (1996). ''Assuwa and the Achaeans: The Mycenaean Sword at Hattusas and Its Possible Implications''. The Annual at the British School at Athens, Vol. 91, pp. 137–151. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259420809_Assuwa_and_the_Achaeans_the_'Mycenaean'_sword_at_Hattusas_and_its_possible_implications ResearchGate]</ref><br>
* [[Luwian language  | Luwic]]: ''a-šu-wi-ya''<ref name="Achterberg">Achterberg, W. (2004). ''The Phaistos Disc: A Luwian Letter to Nestor'', p. 99. Netherlands: Dutch Archaeological and Historical Society. [https://www.academia.edu/66972374/The_Phaistos_disc_a_Luwian_letter_to_Nestor Academic.edu]</ref><ref name="BestWood1">Best, Jan and Woudhuizen, Fred. (1988). ''Ancient Scripts from Crete and Cyprus'', p. 83. Germany: Brill. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ancient_Scripts_from_Crete_and_Cyprus/UNf7EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref name="BestWood2">Best Jan and Woudhuizen, Fred. (2023). ''Lost Languages from the Mediterranean'', pp. 18, 69-70. Germany: Brill. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lost_Languages_from_the_Mediterranean/4tb7EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref>  
* [[Linear A]]: ''a-su-ja''<ref name="Cline1996"/><ref name="Packard">Packard, David W. (2023). ''Minoan Linear A'', p. 4, 43, 95. Germany: University of California Press. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Minoan_Linear_A/VWHhEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref>Emanuel, Jeffrey P.. Black ''Ships and Sea Raiders: The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Context of Odysseus’ Second Cretan Lie'', p. 53. United Kingdom: Lexington Books (2017). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Black_Ships_and_Sea_Raiders/zPM_DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref>
* [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]: ''i-s-y<sup>w</sup>''<ref name="Strange">Strange, John. (2023). ''Caphtor/Keftiu: A New Investigation'', p. 19. Germany: Brill.
[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Caphtor_Keftiu/RNz7EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref name = "cline1177">Cline, E. H. (2015). ''1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed'', p. 28–41. United Kingdom: Princeton University Press. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/1177_B_C/n22YDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref>
* [[Hittite cuneiform]]: ''aš-šu-wa''<ref name = "cline1177"/><ref>Rose, C. B. (2014). ''The Archaeology of Greek and Roman Troy'' pp. 108-109. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Archaeology_of_Greek_and_Roman_Troy/Y9gaAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books].</ref><ref name="Cline1997">Cline, Eric H. (1997). ''Achilles in Anatolia: Myth, History, and the Assuwa Rebellion''. Crossing Boundaries and Linking Horizons: Studies in Honor of Michael Astour on His 80th Birthday, pp. 189–210. Eds. Gordon D. Young, Mark W. Chavalas, and Richard E. Averbeck. (Bethesda, MD: CDL Press), [https://www.academia.edu/355137/1997_Cline_Achilles_in_Anatolia_article Academia.edu]</ref><ref name="Cline1996"/> 
* [[Linear B]]: ''a-si-wi-ja/jo''<ref name="Collins">Collins, B. J., Bachvarova, M. R., Rutherford, I. (2010). ''Anatolian Interfaces: Hittites, Greeks and Their Neighbours''. United Kingdom: Oxbow Books. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Anatolian_Interfaces/7KemAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref name="Latacz">Latacz, J. (2004). ''Troy and Homer: towards a solution of an old mystery''. United Kingdom: OUP Oxford. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Troy_and_Homer/ccQIyA9CW-wC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref name="Wood1">Woudhuizen, Fred. (2023), ''The Luwians of Western Anatolia: Their Neighbours and Predecessors'', pp. 23, 26, 34-66, 71-72, 119, 123, 134. United Kingdom: Archaeopress Publishing Limited. [https://www.academia.edu/44417598/The_Luwians_of_Western_Anatolia_Their_neighbours_and_predecessors Academia.edu]</ref>

==Geography==

Assuwa was located somewhere in Anatolia. Linear B texts from [[Mycenaean Greece]] identified it as a region within reach of [[Palace of Nestor | Pylos]] associated with levies of rowers,<ref>Palima, Thomas G. (1991). ''Maritime Matters in the Linear B tablets'', p. 279, 302-304. Austin: University of Texas. ([https://sites.utexas.edu/scripts/files/2020/05/1991-TGP-MaritimeMattersInTheLinearBTablets-02.pdf University of Texas Files])</ref> suggesting a location separated by water from the [[Peloponnese]]. While [[#Assuwan_towns|the extent of its geography is a matter of debate]], recent scholarship has argued that much of its territory was located in the western part of classical [[Phrygia]].<ref name="Forlanini">Forlanini, Massimo. (2008).  ''The Historical Geography of Anatolia and the Transition From the Karum-Period to the Early Hittite Empire''. Anatolia and the Jazira during the Old Assyrian Period, p. 58, 67 [https://www.academia.edu/44947268/Forlanini_M_2008_The_Historical_Geography_of_Anatolia_and_the_Transition_Anatolia_and_the_Jazira_57_ Academic.edu].</ref><ref>Schachner, Andreas. (2022). ''Hattusa and Its Environs: Archaeology'', p. 37-49. Hittite Landscape and Geography. (2022). Eds. Lee Z. Ullmann and Mark Weeden. Netherlands: Leiden, Boston: Brill. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hittite_Landscape_and_Geography/7AhyEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Wouduizen |first1=Fred|title=Arzawa, Assuwa and Mira: Three Names For the Same Country in Western Anatolia |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFb-wIQQO10 |publisher=[[European Association of Archaeologists]] |language=en |format=video |date=2021}}</ref> This same region was designated by the [[Hittite laws]] as part of the land of [[Luwians | Luwiya]], according to modern researchers.<ref>Yukabovich, Ilya. (2011). ''Luwian and the Luwians''. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), p. 534-545. Spain: OUP USA. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Oxford_Handbook_of_Ancient_Anatolia/TY3t4y_L5SQC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref name="Joost1">Blasweiler, Joost. (2016). ''The kingdom of Purušhanda in the land Luwiya'', pp. 31-38. Arnhem, Arnhem (NL) Bronze Age. [https://www.academia.edu/21099213/The_kingdom_of_Purušhanda_in_the_land_Luwiya#:~:text=The%20land%20Purušhanda%20was%20connected,under%20the%20realm%20of%20Hattusha. Academia.edu]</ref><ref name="Forlanini"/> It was likewise mentioned in a contemporary Egyptian poetical stela along with [[Crete | Keftiu]] as one of the lands to the west of [[Ancient Egypt | Egypt]].<ref name="Strange"/><ref>Nederhof, Mark-Jan. (2006). ''Transliteration and translation for "The 'poetical' stela of Tuthmosis III'', p. 4. Laurinburg, NC: St. Andrews University. [https://mjn.host.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/egyptian/texts/corpus/pdf/PoeticalTuthmosisIII.pdf St. Andrews University archives].</ref>

==History==

The earliest mention of ''a-šu-wi(ya)''<ref name="Wood1"/> is from an Anatolian royal seal dating to the eighteenth/seventeenth centuries BC,<ref>Ambos, Clause and Krauskopf, Ingrid. (2008). ''The curved staff in the Ancient Near East as a predecessor of the Etruscan lituus'', p. 132. Bouke van der Meer, L. (Hrsg.), Material Aspects of Etruscan Religion. Proceedings of the International Colloquium Leiden, May 29 and 30, 2008, Babesch Suppl. 16, 2010, S. 127-153. [https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/1649/1/Krauskopf_Ambos_The_curved_staff_2010.pdf University of Heidelberg Archives].</ref><ref>Wouduizen characterizes the three hieroglyphs that comprise the name as (1)
man's head in profile, (2) a triangle and (3) and a vine tendril.</ref> contemporary to the first and only mention of the land of Luwiya of the Hittite texts.<ref>Giusfredi, Federico., Pisaniello, Valerio, Matessi,  Alvise. (2023). ''Contacts of Languages and Peoples in the Hittite and Post-Hittite World: Volume 1, The Bronze Age and Hatti'', p. 288. Netherlands: Brill. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Contacts_of_Languages_and_Peoples_in_the/zOn7EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref> The name ''a-su-ja''<ref name="Packard"/> in Minoan Linear A texts of the sixteenth century BC is also acknowledged to be a likely reference to Assuwa,<ref name="Cline1996"/><ref>Emanuel, Jeffrey, (2017). ''Ships and Sea Raiders: The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Context of Odysseus’ Second Cretan Lie'', p. 53. United Kingdom: Lexington Books. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Black_Ships_and_Sea_Raiders/zPM_DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref> though with no clear understanding of the context.

Egyptian records mention a region called ''isy''<ref name="Wood1"/> and an Assuwan "chief" and "prince" providing supplies to [[Thutmose III]] from 1445-1439 BC during his military campaigns against [[Nuhašše]] in modern Syria, including copper, lead, [[lapis lazuli]], ivory, wood and horses.<ref name = "cline1177"/> It has been suggested these references predate Egypt's direct contacts with the Hittites and refer to a trade relationship mediated by [[Cyprus | Alashiya]]<ref name="Strange"/> and initiated by an Assuwan power with access to the Mediterranean.<ref name = "cline1177"/>

Assuwa is likewise mentioned in six surviving [[Hittite texts|Hittite documents]],<ref>KUB xxiii 11 þ 12 (CTH 142), KUB xxiii 14 (CTH 211.5), KUB xxvi 91 (CTH 183), KUB xxxiv 43 (CTH 824), KUB xl 62 þ KUB xiii 9 (CTH 258)</ref> with all texts either dated to or referring to events occurring during the reign of [[Tudḫaliya I|Tudhaliya I/II]].<ref name="Cline1996"/> Most of our knowledge comes from the ''Annals of Tudḫaliya'', which gives a detailed account of a rebellion by a league of towns in the aftermath of a Hittite campaign against [[Arzawa | Arzawan]] controlled territories west of the [[Kızılırmak River | Maraššantiya]].<ref name = "cline1177"/><ref name="Rose">Rose, Charles Brian. (2014). ''The Archaeology of Greek and Roman Troy'', pp. 108-109. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Archaeology_of_Greek_and_Roman_Troy/Y9gaAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref name="Cline1997"/>

{{Blockquote
|text= But when I turned back to Hattusa, then against me these lands declared war: [—]lugga, Kispuwa, Unaliya, [—], Dura, Halluwa, Huwallusiya, Karakisa, Dunda, Adadura, Parista, [—], [—]waa, Warsiya, Kuruppiya, [—]luissa, Alatra, Mount Pahurina, Pasuhalta, [—], Wilusiya, Taruisa. [These lands] with their warriors assembled themselves...and drew up their army opposite me...I, Tudḫaliya, brought up my forces at night, and surrounded the army of the enemy. The gods handed their army over to me, the Sun Goddess of Arinna, the Storm God of Heaven, the Protective Genius of Hatti, Zamama, Istar, Sin, Lelwani. I defeated the army of the enemy and entered their country. And from whatever country an army had come (out) to battle, the gods went before me, and the countries which I have mentioned, which declared war, the gods delivered them to me. All these countries I carried off. The conquered population, oxen, sheep, the possessions of the land, I brought away to Hattusa. Now when I had destroyed the land of Assuwa, I came back home to Hattusa. As a booty 10,000 foot soldiers and 600 teams of horses for chariots together with the 'lords of the bridle' I brought to Hattusa, and I settled them in Hattusa.<ref name="Bryce1999">Bryce, Trevor. (1999). ''The Kingdom of the Hittites'',  p. 35-40, 54-55, 124-125. 136. United Kingdom, Oxford University Press. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Kingdom_of_the_Hittites/Agg5-lpVI2MC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books].</ref>}}

[[Eric H. Cline | Cline]] dates this rebellion to circa 1430 BC<ref name = "cline1177"/> and [[Trevor R. Bryce | Bryce]] describes it as "the first major [Hittite] venture to the west" which was "not carried out with the aim to impose authority on the western border, but just to secure it."<ref>''Nostoi: Indigenous Culture, Migration + Integration in the Aegean Islands + Western Anatolia During the Late Bronze + Early Iron Ages'', p. 134. Eds. Konstantinos Kopanias, Nikolaos Chr Stampolidēs, Çiğdem Maner. United Kingdom: Koç University Press, 2015.</ref> The annals further detail the capture of an Assuwan king named Piyama-<sup>d</sup>KAL,<ref>The name has been identified as Luwian in origin. Greenberg, Joseph H. (2000). ''Indo-European and Its Closest Relatives: The Eurasiatic Language Family'', Volume 1, p. 171. United States: Stanford University Press. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Indo_European_and_Its_Closest_Relatives/-XmqRrrJvkQC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref> the establishment of a client state under his son Kukkuli<ref>The name has been identified as Hurrian in origin. See Nyland. Ann. (2009) ''The Kikkuli Method of Horse Fitness Training'', Revised Edition, p. 9. Maryannu Press, Sydney."</ref> and a second rebellion<ref>Unal, Ahmet. (1991). ''Two Peoples on Both Sides of the Aegean Sea''. Officials and Administration in the Hittite World, pp. 16-44. Germany: O. Harrassowitz. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Officials_and_Administration_in_the_Hitt/ghd-DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref> after which "the coalition of Assuwa was destroyed".<ref name="Cline1996"/>

== Analysis ==

{| class="toccolours"  style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width:200px; text-align:left; clear:right;"
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<!--PLEASE ROUND THE DATES OFF TO THE NEAREST 100s. OTHERWISE THE IMAGE WILL NOT RENDER CORRECTLY -->
;{{center|1st Millenium BC}}
{{center|<small>([[Anno Domini|Common Era]] years in [[astronomical year numbering]])</small>}}<br>
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<timeline>
ImageSize  = width:246 height:530
DateFormat = YYYY
Period     = from:-2000 till:-1000
PlotArea   = width:111 height:500 left:39 bottom:21
TimeAxis   = orientation:vertical order:reverse 
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100 start:-2000
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10 start:-1000 
PlotData=
  at:-2000 fontsize:S text: [[Purushanda | Luwian conquest of Purushanda]]
  at:-1950 fontsize:S text: [[Karum (trade post) | Assyrian Karum at Kanesh]]
  at:-1900 fontsize:S text: [[Minoan chronology | Proto-palatial period at Keftui]]
  at:-1807 fontsize:S text: [[Assyria | Amorites conquer Assyria]]
  at:-1740 fontsize:S text: [[Kültepe | Hittites conquer Kanesh]]
  at:-1700 fontsize:S text: [[Purushanda | destruction of Purushanda]]
  at:-1650 fontsize:S text: [[Hattusa | Hittites conquer Hattusa]]
  at:-1600 fontsize:S text: [[Minoan eruption | Eruption of Thera]]
  at:-1550 fontsize:S text: [[Mitanni |  Rise of Mitanni]]
  at:-1470 fontsize:S text: [[Miletus | Mycenaeans enter Anatolia]]
  at:-1430 fontsize:S text: [[Tudḫaliya I|Tudḫaliya's westward incursion]]
  at:-1370 fontsize:S text: [[Achaeans (Homer)|Rise of the Ahhiyawa]]
  at:-1274 fontsize:S text: [[Battle of Kadesh]]
  at:-1220 fontsize:S text: [[Sea Peoples|Sea Peoples migration]]
  at:-1190 fontsize:S text: [[Hattusa|Sack of Hattusa]]
  at:-1100 fontsize:S text: [[Mycenaean Greece|Collapse of Mycenaeans]]
  at:-1000 fontsize:S text: [[Iron Age|Start of Iron Age]]
  
</timeline>
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=== The Land of Luwiya===

{{Main|Luwians}}

It is possible that Asuwiya was simply the native name for territory occupied by Luwic speakers.<ref>Rutherford, I. (2020). ''Hittite Texts and Greek Religion: Contact, Interaction, and Comparison'', p. 113. United Kingdom: OUP Oxford. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hittite_Texts_and_Greek_Religion/BZr9DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref>Bomhard, A. R. (1984). ''Toward proto-Nostratic : a new approach to the comparison of proto-Indo-European and proto-Afroasiatic'', p. 112. Netherlands: North-Holland. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Toward_Proto_Nostratic/j9WN4fHIPlwC?hl=en&gbpv=1 Google Books]</ref><ref name="Achterberg"/> Linguistic models suggest the existence of a common Luwian-speaking state circa 2000 BC, stretching from the central Anatolian plateau (modern [[Konya Province |  Konya]]) northward to the western bend of the Maraššantiya (where modern [[Ankara Province | Ankara]], [[Kırıkkale Province | Kırıkkale]] and [[Kırşehir Province | Kırşehir]] provinces meet).<ref name="Yaku1">Yakubovich, Ilya. (2011). ''Luwian and the Luwians''. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), p. 364, 535. Spain: OUP USA. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Oxford_Handbook_of_Ancient_Anatolia/TY3t4y_L5SQC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books].</ref><ref>Yakubovich, Ilya. (2011). ''In Search of Luwiya, the Original Luwian-speaking Area''. Journal of Ancient History, Vol. 4, p. 295. [http://vdi.igh.ru/issues/153/articles/2720?locale=en http://vdi.igh.ru]</ref> The region was dominated by the kingdom of [[Purushanda]],<ref name="Joost1"/><ref name="Yaku1" /> the etymology of which suggests a takeover of [[Hattians | Hattic]] lands by Luwian elites<ref>Hecker, Karl. (1980). ''Zur Beurkundung'' V011 Kauf und Verkauf im Altassyrischen, Die Welt des Orients 11; RIA band 11, Purušhatum, 119.</ref><ref>''History of Humanity: From the third millennium to the seventh century B.C.'', p. 549. United Kingdom: Routledge, 1994.</ref> and a kingdom made up of an eclectic mix of Luwian-speaking Luwians, Hattic-speaking Luwians, Luwian-speaking Hattians and Hattic-speaking Hattians.<ref>Giusfredi, F., Pisaniello, V., Matessi, A. (2023). Contacts of Languages and Peoples in the Hittite and Post-Hittite World: Volume 1, The Bronze Age and Hatti. Netherlands: Brill. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Contacts_of_Languages_and_Peoples_in_the/zOn7EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref> Archaeology at [[Acemhöyük]] has confirmed the remains of central Anatolian, Mesopotamian and north Syrian pottery - as well as traces of monumental structures - dated 2659 to 2157 BC,<ref>Yakar, Jak. (2003). ''Towards an absolute chronology for middle and late bronze age Anatolia, Studies''. Presented A.M. Mansel, 562. [https://www.academia.edu/74113433/Towards_an_Absolute_Chronology_for_Middle_and_Late_Bronze_Age_Anatolia?uc-sb-sw=19507217 Academia.edu]</ref> providing a plausible ''terminus a quo'' for the Luwian takeover of the region.<ref>Boutet, Michel Gérald, (2000). Time Line of Indo-European Peoples and Cultures (after Cyril Babaev with modifications by 
MichelGérald Boutet and David Frawley), p. 5. [https://www.academia.edu/4526759/Indo_European_Timeline Academia.edu].</ref> 

In the eighteenth century BC the Hittites conquered the Assyrian [[Karum (trade post) | karum]] at Kanesh<ref name="Bryce1999"/> and ultimately moved south to Purushanda,<ref>Kuhrt, A. (1995). ''The Ancient Near East, C. 3000-330 BC'', p. 227. United Kingdom: Routledge. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Ancient_Near_East_C_3000_330_BC/V_sfMzRPTgoC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref> establishing Hittite rule over [[Central Anatolia region | ''ikkuwaniya'']] - the Lower land.<ref name="Bryce1999"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=South Central: The Lower Land and Tarḫuntašša |encyclopedia=Hittite Landscape and Geography |year=2017 |last=Forlanini  |first= Massimo |editor-last1=Weeden |editor-first1=Mark |editor-last2=Ullmann |editor-first2=Lee |publisher=Brill| doi=10.1163/9789004349391_022|page=244|isbn=978-90-04-34939-1 }}</ref> By 1650 BC everything west of Purushanda was regarded as the unconquered (and not worth conquering) land of Luwiya,<ref>Burney, C. (2018). ''Historical Dictionary of the Hittites'' p. 262. United States: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Historical_Dictionary_of_the_Hittites/YRhbDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref name="Melchert">Melchert, Craig. (2003). ''The Luwians'', pp. 1-2, 7, 11 54-70. Netherlands: Brill. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/9ut5DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref> "an Old Hittite ethno-linguistic term referring to the area where Luwian was spoken."<ref name="Hawkins">Hawkins, David J. (2013). ''Luwians vs. Hittites''. Luwian Identities: Culture, Language and Religion Between Anatolia and the Aegean, p. 31-35. Netherlands: Brill.</ref> While it is still an open question whether the border between the Hittites and the Luwians ever extended as far west as the [[Sakarya River | Sangarious]],<ref name="Collins"/> in the 1600s BC that border was clearly the Maraššantiya.<ref>Seeher, Jurgen. (2011). ''The Plateau: The Hittites''. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), p. 376-392. (2011). Spain: OUP USA.</ref>

===Arzawa===
{{Main|Arzawa}}

Within a generation "Arzawiya" is first mentioned in the Hittite records, located somewhere beyond the Hittite sphere of influence in the Lower land.<ref name="Gander"/> This suggests an extensive colonization of the land of Luwiya by a non-Luwian peoples by the turn of the sixteenth century BC - Gander focuses on [[Hurrian]]<ref name="Gander"/> Yakubovich says [[Carians | Carian]]<ref>Yakubovich, Ilya (2013). ''Anatolian Names in -wiya and the Structure of Empire Luwian Omnastics''. Luwian Identities: Culture, Language and Religion Between Anatolia and the Aegean, p. 31-35. Netherlands: Brill.</ref> and Cline implies [[Achaeans (Homer) | Ahhiyawan]]<ref name="Cline1996"/> - in the wake of prior Luwian westward migration.<ref name="Collins"/><ref name="Melchert"/><ref name="Brydce2018">Bryce, T. (2018). ''Warriors of Anatolia: A Concise History of the Hittites''. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Warriors_of_Anatolia/PyjNDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref> There are historical traces of this migration - the [[Leleges]]<ref>Herda, Alexander. (2013). ''Greek (and our) Views on the Karians'', pp. Aegean. Netherlands: Brill. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Luwian_Identities/a_B8VOPZlYIC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref> and the [[Lukka lands | Lukka]]<ref name="Bryce1999" /> - but it is clear the Luwians came into contact with the Mycenaeans,<ref>Feuer, B. (2004). ''Mycenaean civilization : an annotated bibliography through 2002'', p. 138. United Kingdom: McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mycenaean_Civilization/3SQTBQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref>Eds. Joseph, Brian, Klein, Jared, Wenthe, Mark and Fritz, Matthias. (2018). ''Graeco-Anatolian Contacts in the Mycenaean Period''. Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics, p. 2039. Germany: De Gruyter. [https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/GreecePeloponnesus/Mycenaeans-Hajnal2009.pdf Ancient Ports Antiques]</ref><ref>Greaves, A. M. (2005). ''Miletos: Archaeology and History''. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Miletos/8KiCAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref> whose strongholds in the [[Argolis]]<ref>Castleden, R. (2005). ''The Mycenaeans'' p. 37. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Mycenaeans/pLR-AgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref> lay directly across the [[Aegean Sea]] from modern [[İzmir Province | İzmir]] and who seem to have at first called the Luwian territory ''ru-wa-ni-jo'' ("land where Luwian is spoken").<ref>Widmer, P. (2006). ''Mykenisch ru-wa-ni-jo, Luwierı''. Kadmos 45, pp. 82-84. [https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/111516/ Zurich Open Repository and Archive)]</ref> With time bred by familiarity the Luwian name ''a-šu-wi-ya'' was transliterated into Mycenaean as ''a-si-wi-ja''.<ref name="Wood1"/>

As a result of this contact the Luwian language and culture went through a profound metamorphosis,<ref>Billigmeier, J. C. (1970). ''An Inquiry into the Non-Greek Names on the Linear B Tablets from Knossos and their Relationship to Languages of Asia Minor''. Minos 10, 177–83.</ref><ref name="Wood1"/> - and spread inland along the [[Gediz River | Hermos]] and [[Büyük Menderes River | Maeander]] river valleys into classical [[Pisidia]] and beyond:<ref name="Bryce1999"/><ref>Waelkens, Marc. (2000). ''Sagalassos and Pisidia During the Late Bronze Age''. Sagalassos V: Report on the Survey and Excavation Campaigns of 1996 and 1997, p. 473-508. Eds. Marc Waelkens and L. Loots. Belgium: Leuven University Press.[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sagalassos_V/Zs5xuX231MoC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref>Price, S., Thonemann, P. (2011). The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine. United States: Penguin Publishing Group.</ref>  "Extension of the Lower land further to the southwest would have brought Hittite territory in close proximity to the region which came to be called Arzawa, thus creating the potential for border disputes and cross border raids of the kind allied to in a number of treaties which Hittite kings subsequently drew up with their immediate neighbors."<ref name="Melchert"/>

By the 1430s BC the Hittites perceived a threat from this unfamiliar mixture of different political, social, cultural and linguistic groups amongst the small entities and independent polities<ref>Mac Sweeney, Naoíse. (2016). ''Anatolian-Aegean Interactions in the Early Iron Age: Migration, Mobility, and the Movement of People''. Of Odysseys and Oddities: Scales and Modes of Interaction between Prehistoric Aegean Societies and Their Neighbors, pp. 411-433. Ed. B. Molloym. Oxford. Philadelphia.</ref><ref>Bryce, Trevor. (2003). ''History''. Vol. I/68, in Handbuch der Orientalistik, by The Luwians, p. 35-40. Eds. H. C. Melchert. Boston: Brill, Leyde.</ref><ref name="Meric">Meriç, Recep. (2020). ''The Arzawa lands. The historical geography of İzmir and its environs during late bronze age in the light of new archaeological research''. TÜBA-AR Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi Arkeoloji Dergisi, no. 27 : 151-177.</ref> in the land of Luwiya and launched a preemptive strike.<ref name="Bryce1999" /> The campaigns against the Assuwa coalition are listed after the Lusa campaign<ref>Houwink ten Cate, Philo H. J. (1970). ''The Records of the Early Hittite Empire (c. 1450-1380 B.C.)'', p. 58. [https://archive.org/details/hittite-empire-records-1450-1380-bc Archive.org]</ref> south of [[Lake Beyşehir]].<ref>Gurney, O. R. (2016). ''The Hittites''. (Fig. 1): Hauraki Publishing. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Hittites/xlRODQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref>

===Towns of the Assuwa League===

The confederacy appears to have been a rather short-lived affair, and there is thus far no consensus as to identification of the towns of the Assuwa league listed in the ''Annals of Tudḫaliya'':

‣"Now, the Assuwan League consisted of a coalition of forces running from Lukka in the southwest to Wilusiya in the northwest, and hence comprised western Anatolia in its entirety."<ref name="Wood1"/><br>
‣"The group of states making up this confederacy probably lay in the far west of Anatolia, covering at least part of the Aegean coast."<ref name="Bryce1999"/><br>
‣"...the province of Assuwa...is located in the Hermos valley, as much as four toponyms featuring in the list with bearing on the blanket term Assuwian League can positively be situated in the realm of Arzawa."<ref name="Wood1"/><br>
‣"Starke...connects...the Land of Assuwa...with classical [[Assos]]."<ref name="Melchert"/><br>
‣"Assuwa" was merely a city or town "somewhere in the region of the upper stretches of the [[Sakarya River |Sangarius]] and the [[Porsuk River |Tembris]]" and "located in the immediate proximity of the region in which the coalition was apparently active, just to the (south)east of Huwalusiya and Masa."<ref>Oreshko, Rostislav. (2013). Geography of the Western Fringes: Gar(a)giša/Gargiya and the Lands of the Late Bronze Age Caria, p. 153. Centre for Hellenic Studies (Harvard University). [https://www.academia.edu/39739899/Geography_of_the_Western_Fringes_Gar_a_giša_Gargiya_and_the_Lands_of_the_Late_Bronze_Age_Caria Academic.edu].</ref>
*'''Kispuwa'''
‣"...not attested anywhere else."<ref name="Gander"/>
*'''Unaliya'''
‣"...not attested anywhere else."<ref name="Gander"/>
*'''[[Dura (region)|Dura]]'''
‣"For the identification of Dura with classical Tyrrha and modern Tire(h) along the southern bank of the river late called [[Küçük Menderes River  | Kaystros]], see Freu (208)b...''<ref name="Wood1"/><br>
‣For the [[Kassites|Kassite]] custom of appending "dura" to the name of cities, see Beaulieu.<ref>Beaulieu, P. (2018). A History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75. United Kingdom: ve beenWiley.</ref> 
*'''Halluwa'''
‣"...not attested anywhere else."<ref name="Gander"/>
*'''Huwallusiya'''
‣"..it can hardly be separated from the town of Huwalusa, which is mentioned in another small fragment probably dating from the reign of [[Muršili II  | Mursillis II]]."<ref name="Garstang">Garstang, J. (2017). ''The Geography of the Hittite Empire'', 105-106. United Kingdom: British Institute at Ankara. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Geography_of_the_Hittite_Empire/0klHDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><br>‣"Many of the towns mentioned alongside [it] have convincingly been localized in western Phrygia by M. Forlanini."<ref name="Gander">Gander, Max. (2022). ''The West: Philology'', p. 264-266. Hittite Landscape and Geography, Netherlands: Brill. [https://www.academia.edu/34316588/The_West_Philology_in_Weeden_Mark_Ullmann_Lee_Z_Hg_Hittite_Landscape_and_Geography_Leiden_2017_S_262_280 Academia.edu]</ref><br>
‣Woudhuizen associated it with the town of [[Honaz]] near the ancient [[Lycus (river of Phrygia) | Lycus river]] in Phrygia.<ref name="Wood1"/>
*'''Karakisa'''
‣"...can only be the well attested country of [[Karkiya | Karkisa]]..."<ref name="Garstang"/><br>
‣"...was apparently situated close to the Seha River Land..."<ref name="Unwin">Unwin, Naomi Carless. (2017). ''Caria and Crete in Antiquity: Cultural Interaction Between Anatolia and the Aegean'', pp. 57, 115-118. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Caria_and_Crete_in_Antiquity/VLYrDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books].</ref>
*'''Dunda'''
‣"is to be localized in [[Kizzuwatna]]..."<ref name="Gander"/>
*'''[[Adadura]]'''
‣"...not attested anywhere else."<ref name="Gander"/>
*'''[[Parista (region) |Parista]]'''
‣"...not attested anywhere else."<ref name="Gander"/>
*'''Warsiya'''
‣"[S]uggests some close connection with the country of Warsiyalla mentioned in §14 of the [[Alaksandu | Alaksandus treaty]] together with the [[Lukka lands]], Masa and Karkisa, in a context which...probably serves only to locate these countries somewhere in the west of Asia Minor."<ref name="Garstang"/>
*'''Kuruppiya'''
‣The name is identified with [[Karatepe]] on the [[Cilicia | Cilician plain]],<ref>Hawkins, J. D., Weeden, M. (2024). ''Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions: Volume III'', p. 187: Inscriptions of the Hettite Empire and New Inscriptions of the Iron Age. Germany: De Gruyter. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Corpus_of_Hieroglyphic_Luwian_Inscriptio/_pjvEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref> far removed from traditional locations of Assuwa.<br>
‣Woudhuizen associated it with a mountain near [[İzmir]].<ref name="Wood1"/>
*'''[[Alatra (region) |Alatra]]'''
‣"...not attested anywhere else."<ref name="Gander"/><br>
‣"...only mentioned in a fragmentary ritual text without determinative and lacking any geographical context."<ref name="Gander"/><br>
‣Woudhuizen noted the correspondence with the Luwian name for [[Kaunos]], ''Kwalatarna'' (“army camp”).<ref>''Etruscan as a Colonial Luwian Language'', Linguistica Tyrrhenica III. Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Kulturwissenschaft, Sonderheft 128. Innsbruck: Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Kulturwissenschaft. [https://www.talanta.nl/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Woudhuizen-2019-Etruscan_as_a_Colonial_Luwian_Language.pdf Talanta]</ref><br>
*'''[[Pasuhalta (region) |Pasuhalta]]'''
‣"...not attested anywhere else."<ref name="Gander"/><br>
*'''Mount Pahurina'''
‣"...not attested anywhere else."<ref name="Gander"/><br>
*'''[[Wilusa]]'''
‣"..[it] can be equated Ilios by way of a hypothetical form Wiluwa."<ref name="Garstang"/><br>
‣"...an alternative location at the Byzantine site of [[Beycesultan |Iluza]] was proposed by Vangelis Pantazis..."<ref name="Wood1"/><ref>Pantazis (Nikaea), "Wilusa: Reconsidering the Evidence", ''KLIO'', 91 (2009), σ. 305-307. [https://web.archive.org/web/20161104033119/https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0cPPGU7IctEUDlvbzVzMHVyMzg/view Web Archive]</ref>
*'''Taruisa'''
‣"The possibility that [it] might be identified with Greek Troia, i.e. the city of [[Troy]], was observed in 1924 by E. Forrer, and after much controversy philologists have agreed that the equation is possible by way of the hypothetical form Tauriya."<ref name="Garstang"/><br>
‣"A silver bowl whose hieroglyphic inscription mentions the name of Taruisa (ta-r-wi-za) might be evidence of the same Tudhaliya's campaign against Assuwa."<ref>Taracha, Piotr. (2003). ''Is Tuthaliya's Sword really Aegean''? Hittite Studies in Honor of Harry A. Hoffner, Jr: On the Occasion of His 65th Birthday, p. 367. Eds. Gary Beckman, Richard Beal and Gregory MaMahon. United States: Eisenbrauns. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hittite_Studies_in_Honor_of_Harry_A_Hoff/RtMSrGe8MY0C?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref><ref name="Bryce2006">Bryce, T. (2006). ''The Trojans and Their Neighbours'', pp. 33-35, 81. Kiribati: Routledge. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Trojans_and_Their_Neighbours/5YV6hwUmTpYC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Google Books]</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Asia}}
*[[Ancient regions of Anatolia]]
*[[Arzawa]]
*[[Hapalla]]
*[[Mira (kingdom)]]
*[[Seha River Land]]
*[[Wilusa]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{History of Anatolia|state=expanded}}
{{Ancient kingdoms in Anatolia}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Assuwa League}}
[[Category:States and territories established in the 15th century BC]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 14th century BC]]
[[Category:Assuwa league| ]]
[[Category:Trojan War]]
[[Category:Former confederations]]